


Debutante

by jjscm



Category: Normal People (TV), Normal People - Sally Rooney
Genre: Gen, Lorraine feels, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjscm/pseuds/jjscm
Summary: Lorraine didn’t go to her Debs, either.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Debutante

Lorraine doesn’t go to her Debs. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have thought that possible. She had been one of the most popular girls in school, pretty, vivacious and with a gorgeous, athletic boyfriend. Even when she found out she was pregnant, once the initial terror had passed, she had thought, foolishly, that it might all be okay.

When she told Steve about the pregnancy, the first thing he said was Will you be going to England, then? The same thought had crossed her mind, although she couldn’t imagine how she could get there and back without her parents knowing, but Steve didn’t seem willing to consider any other possibilities. I can’t be a father, he said flatly. I’m going to college. And when she started to cry, he threw his hands up and said, This is your problem. Nothing to do with me.

Soon after, the whispers and stares from her former friends started. She heard through the grapevine that Steve had told everyone that she had cheated on him, that she was having someone else’s baby. Eventually she stopped going to classes, but first she had to tell her parents why.

Her father was devastated, her mother furious. They talked about the options available to them like Lorraine wasn’t even there. Finally they decided that the baby would have to be given up for adoption. Lorraine would go to her aunt’s, in time-honoured tradition, with a mysterious illness, and would return with no baby. The matter was concluded.

Lorraine didn’t go to her exams, didn’t get her Leaving Cert. She barely left the house and after her mother vindictively informed her that Steve was taking someone else to the Debs, she went to bed and stayed there.

Now, staring at the posters on the ceiling, she thinks about going to the Debs anyway, putting on her best dress that still fits and walking in there with her impending bump. Let everyone stare, let the teachers throw her out if they want. She knows she won’t do it, but it’s deadly to imagine Steve’s face.

That night while taking a bath, she feels her baby move for the first time, and it’s the best moment of her life so far.


End file.
